USS Defiant (2370)
|Registry = NX-74205 |owner = United Federation of Planets |operator = Starfleet |Status = Destroyed |Datestatus = 2375 }} The USS Defiant (NX-74205) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet. This was the prototype of the class and the second Federation ship known to bear the name Defiant. History Origins Development on the Defiant began around 2366, in response to the Borg threat. Although officially classified as an escort vessel, the Defiant was nothing less than Starfleet's first design of warship, intended to fight and ultimately defeat the Borg. The vessel featured minimal equipment for scientific research and was not designed to accommodate families. ( ) Launched in 2370, on stardate 47538.5, from the Antares Ship Yards, the Defiant s trial runs did not end well for Starfleet. The vessel was overpowered and over-gunned for a ship of its size – so much so that the Defiant nearly shook itself apart, when the engines were tested at full power. Ultimately, these design flaws, combined with the Borg threat becoming less urgent, led Starfleet to the decision to abandon the project and place the prototype in storage. (Defiant dedication plaque; ) Service at Deep Space 9 After the destruction of the in late 2370, Commander Benjamin Sisko, who served on the team that designed the Defiant, requested that the vessel be pulled out of storage and assigned to Deep Space 9 to counter the new Dominion threat. Arriving in early 2371, the Defiant s first assignment was to attempt to convince the Founders of the Dominion that the Federation posed no threat to them. After a special amendment was made to the Treaty of Algeron, the Romulan Star Empire installed one of their cloaking devices aboard the vessel to aid in its mission - in exchange for any intelligence gained on the Dominion. ( ) The mission did not go well for the DS9 crew. Shortly after entering the Gamma Quadrant, the Defiant was attacked by several Jem'Hadar fighters. During the resulting battle, the vessel was boarded and the senior officers were captured and placed into a simulation to test how Starfleet might react to the Dominion attempting to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. Ultimately the crew was discovered by Bajoran Militia officers Major Kira Nerys and Odo, and were allowed to return to DS9 with the Defiant. ( ) DS9's chief of operations, Miles O'Brien, spent two weeks overhauling the Defiant s structural integrity field to overcome the ships design flaws. ( ) Several weeks later, the Defiant transported Lieutenant Jadzia Dax to the Trill homeworld to receive medical treatment. ( ) When Major Kira was abducted by the Cardassian Union's Obsidian Order, Commander Sisko took the Defiant into Cardassian space in a rescue attempt. To ensure the Cardassians did not identify the ship, the vessel's shield harmonics were reconfigured to make the Defiant appear to be a Kobheerian freighter. ( ) The Defiant made contact with the planet Meridian during an exploration mission in the Gamma Quadrant. ( ) Later in 2371, Maquis operative Thomas Riker hijacked the Defiant and used it to attack several Cardassian targets. Commander Sisko was forced to travel to Cardassia Prime with Gul Dukat to help track down the vessel. Although Dukat initially wanted to destroy the Defiant, he agreed to release the vessel and the Maquis crew to Starfleet custody in exchange for the Defiant s scans of the Orias system and Riker himself. After facing overwhelming opposition from Obsidian Order forces deployed from the Orias system, Riker ultimately surrendered and the Defiant was returned to DS9. ( ) The Defiant visited Earth later that year, where the vessel's senior staff was to attend the Annual Starfleet Symposium on the current situation in the Gamma Quadrant. ( ) Several weeks later, the Defiant was used to carry out a joint project between the governments of the Federation, Cardassia, and Bajor to establish communications between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants. ( ) After a joint Obsidian Order-Tal Shiar fleet entered the Gamma Quadrant on a mission to destroy the Founders' homeworld, Vice Admiral Toddman ordered that the Defiant remain at DS9 to protect the Bajoran sector from any Dominion retaliation. Despite these orders, Commander Sisko took the vessel into the Gamma Quadrant in order to rescue Odo and Elim Garak, who were being held on one of the Romulan vessels in the fleet. Despite sabotage of the cloaking device by security chief Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, the Defiant ultimately succeeded in its mission and returned to DS9. Admiral Toddman decided not to file charges against Sisko or any of the other officers who had joined him. ( ) In late 2371, a Changeling posing as Federation ambassador Krajensky sent the Defiant on a patrol mission of the Federation-Tzenkethi border. During the mission, the Changeling sabotaged the Defiant, causing it to fly out of control towards a Tzenkethi colony that was intended to be attacked; the Dominion hoped it would provoke a second war between the two powers. The crew was eventually able to regain control of the vessel and kill the Changeling. ( ) ]] In early 2372, the Defiant fought its way through Cardassian space against Klingon forces to bring the Detapa Council to Deep Space 9, once briefly using its tractor beam as a 'substitute' shield to protect it from enemy fire when it was forced to drop its usual shields to beam the Council to safety. ( ) The Defiant was used by Doctor Lenara Kahn and her research team in an attempt to create an artificial wormhole. ( ) Several weeks later, the Defiant traveled to the Gamma Quadrant to meet with a Karemma starship. During the meeting, the two vessels were attacked by Jem'Hadar forces. The Defiant engaged the Jem'Hadar in the atmosphere of a gas giant and took severe damage; several of the senior officers were incapacitated. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Worf, the Defiant was able to destroy the Jem'Hadar ships and rescue the Karemma. ( ) In mid-2372, Commander Worf took the Defiant to Earth to assist Captain Sisko in foiling a plot by Admiral Leyton which would have overthrown the Federation government and established martial law. While on route, the Defiant was forced to engage the under the command of Captain Erika Benteen; who was operating under the assumption that the Defiant was manned by Changelings. After a prolonged battle in which both ships took significant damage (it is strongly suggested by Major Kira that the Lakota was "in even worse shape" than the Defiant), the Lakota eventually stood down when Benteen conferred with Worf and Kira about her orders to stop the Defiant. Thus, the Defiant was allowed to continue to Earth with the evidence Sisko needed to stop the coup. ( ) Major Kira used the Defiant to stop the Klingon Empire from mining the Bajoran sector later that year. ( ) The Defiant later became home to Worf, who found adapting to life on Deep Space 9 difficult. Captain Sisko gave him approval to live on the vessel so long as it did not interfere with his duties. ( ) During an escort mission where the Defiant was protecting several Cardassian freighters against Klingon raids, Commander Worf accidentally destroyed a Klingon civilian transport ship. The Klingon Empire requested that Worf be extradited to face justice for the ship's destruction, but was refused when it was determined that the transport ship was unmanned. ( ) After an attack on DS9 by Jem'Hadar rebels, the Defiant pursued their vessel into the Gamma Quadrant. After rescuing the crew of a disabled Jem'Hadar fighter, the crews of the Defiant and the fighter worked together to destroy an Iconian gateway that was under the control of the rebels. ( ) In late 2372, the Defiant took Odo to the Founder's new homeworld where he was to be judged for killing the Krajensky changeling the previous year. The Female Changeling allowed the vessel to personally transport him to the Founder's homeworld so long as one of her pilots entered the coordinates for the planet and wiped them from the ship's memory afterwards. While the vessel was in orbit, Garak unsuccessfully attempted to use the Defiant s weapons to attack the Great Link, but he was caught and prevented from doing so by Worf. ( ) In early 2373, the Defiant tractored a Jem'Hadar fighter captured by Captain Sisko back to Federation space. ( ) A few weeks later, Captain Sisko took the Defiant to Ajilon Prime to get his son, Jake, off the front lines of the war with the Klingons. ( ) The Defiant was later transported to the 23rd century, where it encountered the original during its visit to Deep Space K-7 in 2268. The crew stopped Arne Darvin from killing Captain James T. Kirk with a bomb implanted in a dead Tribble. ( ) The Defiant rescued Odo and Quark from an L-class planet their runabout had crashed on after being sabotaged by the Orion Syndicate ( ) While pursuing Maquis-defector Michael Eddington, the Defiant was disabled by a cascade virus that Eddington had installed in the ship's computers during his time as DS9's Starfleet security chief. The vessel had to be towed back to DS9 by the . When that vessel was later disabled by the Maquis, Captain Sisko used the damaged Defiant to continue pursuing Eddington. After Sisko poisoned a Maquis planet, Eddington surrendered to Sisko and was incarcerated. ( ) Under the command of Worf, the Defiant was finally used for what she was originally designed: fighting the Borg. In the Battle of Sector 001 in mid-2373, the Defiant assaulted the invading Borg cube from the Typhon sector to Earth and took severe damage. As Worf was about to order the ship to ram the cube, the rescued the vessel's survivors. The Defiant and Enterprise crews followed a Borg sphere to 2063 shortly after the cube's destruction to stop the Borg from sabotaging Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight. Following these events, the Defiant was repaired and returned to DS9. ( ; ) When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union and invaded the Alpha Quadrant, the Defiant was forced to destroy the runabout , which had been commandeered by a Changeling posing as Doctor Julian Bashir. The runabout was carrying a trilithium weapon which was to be detonated in the Bajoran sun, destroying the entire system. ( ) In late 2373, the Defiant became trapped inside a temporal distortion surrounding a planet in the Gamma Quadrant. The planet was inhabited by descendants of the Defiant crew, who revealed that the vessel would crash while attempting to escape the distortion. The Defiant crew and the planets inhabitants worked to formulate a plan that would allow the Defiant to escape back into normal space, while simultaneously creating a second ship that would crash on the planet and land 200 years in the past, thus ensuring the inhabitants survival. However, it was discovered that the plan would fail and Yedrin Dax was setting up the original Defiant to crash. The crew eventually planned to allow this event to take place, but was stopped by the elder-Odo living on the surface, who changed the ship's flight plan so that it would avoid the distortion that would send them back in time. The Defiant returned to DS9 and the colonists were found to have never existed. ( ) Service during the Dominion War In an effort to stop the Dominion's military build-up in Cardassian space, Starfleet Command opted to mine the entrance to the Bajoran wormhole, a move that was virtually guaranteed to lead to war. Despite coming under fire by Dominion forces, the Defiant was able to successfully deploy the mine field and evacuate Deep Space 9's Starfleet personnel before the Dominion took control of the station. ( ) For the next several months, the Defiant fought as part of the Second Fleet, operating out of Starbase 375. When Captain Sisko was made an adjutant to Vice Admiral William Ross, Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax was assigned to captain the vessel. Under Dax's command, the Defiant destroyed a Dominion sensor array hidden in the Argolis Cluster. ( ) Sisko returned to the captain's chair of the Defiant to lead Operation Return in mid-2374. The vessel resumed its assignment at Deep Space 9 after the station was retaken. ( ) The Defiant was part of a search effort to look for survivors of the after the latter vessel was destroyed by Cardassian forces. Upon completion of that mission the ship was immediately assigned to escort a Federation troop convoy near the Badlands. ( ) While studying a subspace compression anomaly in mid-2374, the Defiant was taken over by Jem'Hadar forces. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Defiant crew and the , the vessel was retaken and the surviving Jem'Hadar were taken to a Federation prisoner of war camp. ( ) The Defiant rescued survivors from its sister ship, the , later that year. ( ) Upon completion of a convoy escort mission, the Defiant responded to a distress call from Captain Lisa Cusak, who was commanding the . The Olympia had crashed on an L-class planet in the Rutharian sector of the Beta Quadrant. Upon arrival at the planet, the Defiant crew found an energy barrier surrounding the planet which had carried Cusak's distress call forward through time; Cusak had been dead three years. Cusak's body was taken back to DS9 and a memorial service was held for her by the crew. ( ) The Defiant, along with the , led the Federation Alliance fleet at the First Battle of Chin'toka in late-2374. It was the crew of the Defiant that found a way to disable the Cardassian orbital weapon platforms protecting the Chin'toka system. ( ) Under Worf's command, the Defiant spent the next several months on convoy duty. ( ) In early-2375, the Defiant made a supply run to AR-558, a planetoid in the Chin'toka system under heavy siege by the Jem'Hadar. The Defiant crew provided a small reinforcement of the planetoid and helped disable the houdinis that were plaguing the Federation troops stationed there. ( ) The Defiant later served as part of a search effort to look for survivors of the , which had been destroyed by Dominion forces in the Badlands. The Defiant managed to recover six escape pods, but was forced to call off its search for the Koraga s captain, Worf, after only three days due to heavy Jem'Hadar patrols in the area. ( ) Later that year, the Dominion, along with their new Breen allies, retook the Chin'toka system with the Second Battle of Chin'toka. The Defiant was among the 311 ships destroyed in the battle. ( ) The was assigned to DS9 to replace the Defiant after its destruction. Captain Sisko was granted special dispensation by the Chief of Starfleet Operations to rename the Sao Paulo to Defiant. ( ) Unique characteristics Ablative armor The Defiant was equipped with an ablative armor coating that was designed to disintegrate under enemy fire at a controlled rate. It dissipated the effects of directed energy weapons, decreasing damage to the main hull of the ship and therefore providing an extra layer of defense. As late as 2372, Starfleet wasn't informed that the Defiant was equipped in that way. ( ) Cloaking device After the Dominion threat emerged in late-2370, a special amendment made to the Treaty of Algeron allowed the Defiant to be equipped with a Romulan cloaking device. In exchange for providing the cloaking device, the Federation agreed to share all of its Dominion intelligence with the Romulan government. Additionally, the cloak was only authorized for use in the Gamma Quadrant; although Captain Sisko violated this provision on numerous occasions. Use of the cloaking device was initially supervised by Subcommander T'Rul, although the Romulans later discontinued supervision. ( ) Because of the amount of power the Defiant used, the cloak did not completely hide the ship from Jem'Hadar sensors during normal operation. ( ) First contacts * Karemma (The Ferengi were the first Alpha Quadrant species to contact them) * Founders, 2371 * Meridian, 2371 Command crew The Defiant s permanent assignment at Deep Space 9 as a support vessel meant that it had no specific or dedicated crew complement. The vessel was manned by station personnel; its crew complement, as well as their assignments, often varied by mission. *Commanding officer **Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko (2371-2375) **Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2374) *Executive officer / Tactical officer **Colonel Kira Nerys (2371-2375) **Lieutenant Commander Worf (2372-2375) *Chief engineer **Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien (2371-2375) *Chief medical officer **Lieutenant Julian Bashir (2371-2375) *Helmsman **Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2371-2374) **Ensign Nog (2373-2375) *Science Officer **Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2371-2374) *Security chief **Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington (2371-2372) *Counselor/Communications Officer **Lieutenant junior grade Ezri Dax (2375) *Engineer **Ensign Nog (2373-2375) established that Worf was the first officer of the Defiant while Kira was the first officer of the station, there was some inconsistency in this arrangement. Based on , and , it would appear that Kira retained the first officer's position when the Defiant was operating outside of Federation space, while Worf took the position during operations inside Federation space, although this was not directly clarified on the show, so it remains speculation.}} ;Additional personnel: * [[Deep Space 9 personnel#Unnamed personnel|Unnamed Starfleet personnel serving on the USS Defiant]] Embarked craft *''Chaffee'' (''Chaffee'' type shuttlepod) *''Shuttle 01'' (Type 18 shuttlepod) | }} Appendices Appearances The ''Defiant appears in all Deep Space Nine episode title sequences starting with Season 4 and beyond.'' * ** (Season 3) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season 4) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season 5) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season 6) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season 7) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * Background information Origins The invention of the USS Defiant was preceded by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe discussing, for some time, the possibility of giving the main characters of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine a method to leave space station Deep Space 9 en masse. "We wanted a ship in which we could send more people out on an adventure," explained Wolfe, "and we'd never really figured out how to do it." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) The main reason for the creation of the Defiant was that Ira Steven Behr and the other writers felt the runabouts would not be able to protect the space station from the Dominion, and that something with more muscle was necessary. In the second season finale , the Dominion had shown themselves capable of destroying a starship (the ) and it was felt that viewers would not accept the idea that the Federation's first line of defense against such a powerful enemy was three runabouts. Behr remembered, "At one point, Robert Wolfe and I were sitting around after the 'Jem'Hadar' episode had been filmed. We were looking at dailies and said, 'Jesus, we're blowing up ''Galaxy Class starships; these guys are tough, and all we have are these freaking runabouts' .... We had to come up with a ship to combat Dominion." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79) As Behr additionally explained, "''We had all these plans for this Dominion, not so much the Dominion War yet, but the Dominion as a three-pronged attack, and what were we going to go after them with? Shuttlecrafts? You know, I mean, with the ''Galileo or whatever the hell those names were? You know, it just seemed ridiculous. So we needed a ship." Similarly, Production Designer Herman Zimmerman stated, "''We needed a ship that would give the writers the opportunity to have more direct conflict." (USS Defiant, DS9 Season 3 DVD special features) He also commented, "The ''Defiant was a direct result of the need on the part of the writer/producers of the show to get away from the station, to give them a vehicle that would allow them to travel at higher warp speeds than the Runabout ... is capable of, and to carry more armament and more personnel." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 96) Wolfe specified, "''Bringing in the ''Defiant was based on our own internal perceptions of something that would make the show better. It was not based on ratings." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) The ''Defiant was originally envisioned, by the DS9 producers, as "a beefy runabout." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 162) Feeling the need for a ship assigned to protect the space station, Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe approached then-Executive Producer Michael Piller with their idea. Related Behr, "We .... said, 'We need something with teeth to it so it doesn't seem ridiculous that this space station is the only thing between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant. " (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79) Talking with Piller in his office, Behr additionally told him, "We know ''Voyager is coming and there will be problems, but we need a ship. Doesn't have to be a ship that's as good as Voyager. Doesn't have to be a starship – we need a kick-ass ship." Though Piller became temporarily side-tracked with addressing another issue, Behr expressed the need for a ship once again, to which Piller finally replied, "''Absolutely, let's talk to Rick [Berman]." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) Piller's advice to speak with Berman was because he might have concerns due to the fact the starship Voyager was about to also be introduced. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) As it turned out, Michael Piller himself brought the idea to Rick Berman's attention. At this point, the general idea was still for the craft to be a kind of runabout, larger than the others. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 96) Berman did indeed have some worries, though Ira Behr addressed them by saying, "It's a different show, it's a different ship, and we need something cool, something ''DS9-specific." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) In hindsight, Behr explained, "''It couldn't be like ''Voyager. And I didn't know what Voyager was going to be at the time. I said, 'Fine, let's give it something only Deep Space Nine has." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) Although there was initial opposition to the subsequent request for the ship to have a cloaking device, Behr and Robert Wolfe managed to convince Berman that the ''Defiant was a unique ship in a unique situation and, with the added stipulation that the cloak could only be used in the Gamma Quadrant, Berman agreed, so the vessel was approved. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) The design direction of creating the Defiant as a larger form of runabout was soon revised. The craft was – from that point on – redesigned as a starship rather than a runabout. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 96) When Ronald D. Moore and René Echevarria left Star Trek: The Next Generation and joined the DS9 writing staff in its third season, they were told about the plans for the new ship. "When Ron and Rene came on we all sat down and talked about it as a group," remembered Robert Wolfe. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 112) Establishing the Defiant became Moore's responsibility, as he was tasked with scripting the Defiant s introduction in season three premiere . Recalled Moore, "They told me, 'We've got this ship!' And I said, 'You've got ''what? But this show's about a station. I just left a ship! " Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe responded by explaining that the new craft was to be a tougher kind of starship than the , not a large exploratory vessel with families on board. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) Subsequently, the ship inspired Moore. Observed Behr, "He got all excited at the thought of this .... Ron was ecstatic, 'cause he got to play with the Defiant." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) Naming the newly conceived vessel was one of the first tasks Ron Moore had to do, as he began work on the script for "The Search, Part I". "''They'd graciously left the craft to me," he remarked. Moore originally wanted to call the Defiant the USS Valiant (based on either the or the from Star Trek: The Original Series). The producers didn't allow him to use that name for the new ship, as the USS Voyager s name also begins with a "V". It was Moore who instead selected the name Defiant (inspired by the from ). (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) This was three years before Moore was able to name a ship Valiant; the appears in the sixth season episode . As well as liking the name Defiant, Ron Moore believed it required some backstory, wondering, "Why would you name a ship the ''Defiant?" The writers soon devised the backstory about the vessel having been constructed as an attempt to defy the Borg. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) Making the ''Defiant a warship seemed to fit the grittiness of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 162) However, the craft couldn't seem too militaristic for the Federation. "That was one of the problems and something we had to discuss," reflected Ira Behr. "We really wanted this to be a ship that went out there to fight, no science, no searching. This was 'Uh oh, they're bigger than we are and they're coming to get us. Let's ram it down their throats.' We had to pull back a little on that .... But when you meet people, like the Borg or the Romulans, it does pay to have a ship that can do some damage. It's still considered a fighting ship." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) Also, the idea that the Defiant had been "hastily put together in the face of the Borg threat," as phrased by Science Consultant André Bormanis, helped to account for the fact that tight budget constraints limited the amount of sets which could be built for the Defiant. "It was a fair enough justification," opined René Echevarria. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 162) André Bormanis liked how the Defiant, with its technological problems due to being a prototype, departed from "the concept that all Federation technology was squeaky clean and perfect." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 162) Herman Zimmerman explained, "Because it's a prototype, it has a certain quirkiness as any high-speed prototype aircraft would have. You don't know exactly how it will react in a given situation." Ira Behr wanted the Defiant to be a "fun" environment, remarking, "We're hoping that we get that with the ''Defiant." Illustrator Jim Martin, who designed the vessel, concluded, "''The ''Defiant was special." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, pp. 96 & 97) Various rumors circulated about the origins of the ''Defiant. Stated Ira Behr, "I've heard all types of rumors about the ''Defiant." Many fans suspected the craft was invented by Ron Moore or René Echevarria, and that the writers wanted a ship on which to set more stories like those of TNG, despite the vessel actually predating the addition of Moore and Echevarria to the DS9 writing staff. Responding to such opinions, Robert Wolfe said, "''The truth of the matter is the ''Defiant was an attempt to correct a deficiency in the runabouts .... It wasn't that we have to be like Next Gen. We were doing those kinds of stories on DS9 anyway. We just wanted to do what we do better and a ship will help us do that." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) Uses in stories The DS9 writing staff swiftly realized that imagining the ''Defiant as "a unique little warship that was overpowered and overgunned" could generate dynamic stories in future installments. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 158) As Ira Behr noted, "That got us through the first couple of season episodes." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79) Indeed, the addition of the Defiant to the series created many new storytelling possibilities. "First, it meant the crew could have a different set of adventures off the station. It also made it easier to shoot scenes with more people inside a bigger vessel, rather than in the cramped quarters of those little runabouts," stated Terry Farrell, with a laugh. "And finally, it allowed Sisko to truly live up to those immortal words spoken by two other, famous captains before him – 'To boldly go where no-one has gone before. " ( , Deep Space Nine Chronicles, DS9 Season 4 DVD special features) Although the producers chose to include no spotlights on the outer hull of the Defiant-class, the Defiant was lit with spotlights exclusively for the ship's debut, in . Describing how this was done, Gary Hutzel said, "We hooked a mag light on a C-stand arm that was connected directly to the camera head, so that it rocked and rolled with the model. Then we designed the shot to display some of the ship's better angles as it backed away and turned around." When the Defiant leaves Deep Space 9 on its maiden voyage through the wormhole, the ship's name is brightly illuminated. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, pp. 162-163) When it came time to film "The Search, Part I", the relatively small set used as the Defiant challenged the production crew, who had transferred to DS9 from TNG. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 82) They began to find design flaws as soon as they started filming on the new set. "Initially, it was very hard to shoot in the ''Defiant set," confirmed Director Kim Friedman. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 163) David Livingston added that this was "''because we hadn't been in there a lot, and it's cramped; any time you shake the camera or move the camera it takes a lot more time." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 82) With the floor of the Defiant s bridge including a central raised platform under the command chair and a frontal raised platform beneath the helmsman's station, the filming workers discovered the bridge, whose layout was permanent, didn't allow for sufficient room to lay a dolly track, which restricted the camera movements. The tight physical restrictions influenced Friedman to watch old World War II films involving "people sitting in cockpits," in an effort to increase her familiarity with methods employed when shooting in constrained places. Alterations to the Defiant bridge set made it a lot easier to film in. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 163) The crew began to find design flaws as soon as they started filming on the new set. "Initially, it was very hard to shoot in the ''Defiant set," confirmed Director Kim Friedman. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 163) By the end of , the writers had given up on the cloaking device and didn't expect to use it ever again. Director of Photography Jonathan West was even told "we'll never be cloaked again; this is just for the first show." Ron Moore recalled, "''It wasn't until a few episodes later that we decided to say it was still there." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 163) Upon starting to write the story for the episode , one of the first ideas Ron Moore had was the starship Defiant being stolen by Thomas Riker. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 98; Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 87) The notion quickly occurred to him while he was writing the story of "Defiant"; the ship was the answer to Moore asking himself what would motivate the Maquis, led by Tom Riker, to visit Deep Space 9. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 190) "I had the whole stealing of the ''Defiant sequence before I even knew why he was stealing it," Moore commented. "''I thought that would be a great way to open an episode." By the time production on "Defiant" was over, Jonathan West was becoming familiar with filming on the Defiant. "He asked for some changes in terms of paint schemes and lighting, and now it was pretty together," remembered David Livingston. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 87 & 88) When the writing staff was trying to select a "contained" setting for third season finale , the Defiant provided a useful environment. Robert Wolfe remembered that the idea of the ship "heading inexplicably toward destruction, like the death machine that she really is, being all locked down and going like a runaway train, became the basic hook that everyone really liked." However, turning the Defiant into "a runaway train" proved neither as simple or cheap as it sounded, as it required the expense of creating an engine room for the vessel. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, pp. 250 & 251) The DS9 staff writers were pleased with how the Defiant was established during its first season and how it opened up narrative possibilities for later stories. At the end of DS9 Season 3, Ron Moore reflected, "The ''Defiant has developed nicely over the course of the year ... and now we have a fully functioning starship." René Echevarria agreed, "''We can do a shipboard episode if we want and cut back to the station for a B story. We really feel we have the best of all possible worlds with the ''Defiant. We're freed up." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 99) Early drafts of the script of suggested that the ''Defiant was to be destroyed in the Battle of Sector 001. In the DVD commentary for the film, First Contact co-writer and Deep Space Nine producer Ronald D. Moore said that Deep Space Nine s Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr had seen the script and objected to the needless destruction of his ship in a story that didn't even involve the Deep Space Nine characters (apart from Worf). It would also prove to be inconvenient for the television show, so the Defiant was eventually allowed to survive the battle, and a line suggesting that the Defiant was "adrift, but salvageable" was added to clear up any ambiguity. No reference to the damage the Defiant received during the battle was ever made on Deep Space Nine (although a brief reference was made to the battle itself in , when Sisko mentions "the recent Borg attack"). Miscellaneous The , a vessel, was designed based on the design of the Defiant "Pathfinder" vehicle, registry NXP-2365WP/T, found in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual. Models and replicas of the USS Defiant have been produced by AMT/Ertl, Franklin Mint, and Furuta. Galoob released a Micro Machines miniature and Playmates Toys released small Innerspace Series and large electronic starship versions. Hallmark released two versions of the Defiant as Christmas ornaments. Corgi produced a prototype model of the Defiant in but this release was canceled before it reached production. In , the Japanese toy company F-Toys released two models of the Defiant which included a transparent "cloaked" version. Between 2011 and 2014, WizKids released miniatures of the Defiant in its Fleet Captains, Tactics, and Attack Wing games. In 2013, Eaglemoss Collections released the Defiant as part of its Official Starships Collection, which was later released in Japan by De Agostini. Dairy Queen also produced a Defiant food toy premium and a Defiant game token was included in Screenlife's Star Trek Scene It? game. The USS Defiant could be seen in the Discovery Science program Ultra Science (an episode about time travel). An unused door signage for the Defiant was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. Apocrypha In the novel The 34th Rule, the Defiant has a shuttlecraft called the da Vinci. Worf's first mission of the computer game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen involves Worf being left in command of the Defiant, trying to fight off a boarding party of Grigari troopers. The Defiant, as well as the Defiant class in general, feature as playable ships in the tactical combat game Dominion Wars. In the video game Star Trek: Encounters, the Defiant appears in the two levels based on Deep Space 9. In addition, the Defiant appears in the game's last level where it briefly visits an alternate timeline in which the Romulan Star Empire has conquered the Federation. The Defiant later helps the , the , the , and the defeat a combined Xindi, Klingon, Romulan, Dominion, and Borg fleet. Also, the game Star Trek: Legacy features a mission depicting the Defiant s shakedown cruise under the command of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko. The ship encounters Romulan Tal Shiar forces preparing to ambush T'Uerell within Federation space and despite trying to evade them, is captured. The crew and the ship are rescued by a task force led by the USS Enterprise-D. External links * * * bg:USS Дефаянт (2370) sv:USS Defiant NX-74205 cs:USS Defiant (NX-74205) de:USS Defiant (NX-74205) es:USS Defiant fr:USS Defiant (NX-74205) ja:USSディファイアント(NX-74205) nl:USS Defiant (NX-74205) pl:U.S.S. "Defiant" NX-74205 it:USS Defiant (2370) Defiant, USS, 2370